Mira Calix Sounds Off

Rhys James — Aug 12 2010

Creator Mira Calix held her own in the onedotzero panel discussion at our London event. Participants attempted to settle the score between those who unabashedly bask in the exponential growth of new technologies today and those who believe in technology as an ever more advanced means to an ends, but never the end in and of itself. Mira, in her albums on Warp, her collaborations with London Sinfonietta, and her elegant art installations, falls into the latter category. As happy to use field recordings and mic’ed up beehives as she is her Macbook Pro, Mira took a few minutes to chat with us about her Creators experience.

How did you handle being on stage as part of a panel in contrast to being on stage performing music?
I’m more natural as a stage person. I think the panel was great because it was a conversation I’m really interested in. I admire the other panelists work and was really interested to hear what they had to say.

Did you find it got particularly heated at any point?
There weren’t many disagreements. We were all quite well behaved. I think the thing that really came through was this idea of having something to say and using technology as a tool to say it, as opposed to simply having this technology and then figuring out what to say.

What do you think about The Creators Project as a platform for this kind of discourse?
Well, I was aware of many of the creators and their work and was excited to see it and to meet them. Then there were a few — I didn’t know who they were or what they made — and I discovered them here, which was also exciting. It’s been really positive and really well curated.

How do you think your experience as a performer at the event has compared with that of members of the audience?
It’s hard to say, but I’m assuming the tickets are allocated to people already interested to some extent, and generally interested in the arts. My perhaps utopian idea, and probably yours too, is that people will be exposed to things they didn’t previously care about, and suddenly become interested in a way they haven’t been before.